Eighty-one percent of respondents who know who Nadejda Savchenko is do not doubt that she is guilty of the murder of the Russian journalists.
MOSCOW, March 29, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey devoted to the following questions: how many Russians are aware of who Nadejda Savchenko is; whether they think that she is to blame for the murder of the Russian journalists; whether they admit the pardon.
Sixty-five percent of Russians are aware of who Nadejda Savchenko is, but only 43% of Russians can specify what her name connotates. Most of those who heard about N. Savchenko assess her neutrally saying that he is a “Ukrainian pilot”(22%), gunnery spotter (19%), arrested, imprisoned (9%), etc. The number of negative assessments is still high: “killer of two Russian journalists” (14%), “terrorist” (9%), “Ukrainian nationalist” (5%, etc.
Most of those who know who Savchenko is (81%) do not doubt that she is guilty of Russian journalists' murder. Only 4% do not believe that she is guilty. Russians regard her as extreme nationalist who hates Russia (45%) rather than a soldier performing her duty (18%) and rarer a victim of circumstances (6%).
Savchenko has to complete her sentence: every second Russian (47%) believes that the Russian president should not intervene in her destiny after the criminal sentencing. Twenty-eight think that she can be exchanged for the Russian citizens. Only 2% believe that Savchenko is worthy of the Russian president’s mercy.
Medialogia Company analysis suggests that Nadejda Savchenko was mentioned more than 50 thousand times in the Russian media from January 2015 to March 2016. Most of them were recorded in March 2016 (21 thousand). Mass media reported on Savchenko’s sentence announcement and the reaction of the politicians.
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on March 19-20, 2016. A total of 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions and republics of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%. Russian media monitoring and analysis were carried out by the Medialogia Company in January 2015 - March 2016, using approximately 30800 sources such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines.
Have you heard about Nadejda Savchenko? If yes, what do you know about her? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | |
| Total respondents |
I know who she is | 43 |
I heard about her but I do not know what she does | 22 |
This is the first time I hear about her | 35 |
Do you know who Nadejda Savchenko is? If yes, what do you know about her? (open-ended question ,any number of answers, % of those who know who Nadejda Savchenko is; answers of at least 1% of respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Ukrainian military pilot | 22 |
Gunnery spotter | 19 |
Killer of two Russian journalists | 14 |
Imprisoned / arrested / under investigation | 9 |
Aidar battalion soldier / Ukrainian National Guard | 9 |
Terrorist | 9 |
Ukrainian sniper | 7 |
Ukrainian citizen / Ukrainian hero | 5 |
Ukrainian nationalist / banderite | 5 |
Military offender/ bandit/ / bandit / thief | 4 |
Bad woman | 3 |
Activist / politician | 2 |
Diversionist / Ukrainian spy / Russian betrayer | 1 |
Hired assassin | 1 |
Other | 1 |
There is a trial of N. Savchenko in Russia. In your opinion, is she involved in the murder of the Russian journalists? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who know who Nadejda Savchenko is) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over |
She is likely to be involved | 81 | 69 | 81 | 77 | 84 | 82 |
She is unlikely to be involved | 4 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 |
Don’t know | 15 | 23 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 15 |
There are different opinions on N. Savchenko. Which of the following statements do you most agree with? (closed-ended question, not more than 4 answers, %) | |
| Total respondents |
Savchenko is an extreme nationalist; she hates Russia and Russians | 45 |
Savchenko is an ordinary soldier; the only thing she did was executing the orders of her superiors | 18 |
Savchenko is a crazy woman | 13 |
Savchenko is an occasional victim of the circumstances | 6 |
Nothing of the above-mentioned | 3 |
Don’t know | 27 |
Mass media and public figures pay greater attention to the trial of Savcheko. If the court condemns Savchenko, what should Putin do as president? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | ||||
| Total respondents | Savchenko is involved in the death of Russian journalists | Savchenko is unlikely to be involved in the death of Russian journalists | Don’t know |
Not to intervene ; let Savchenko stay imprisoned as long as the court decides | 47 | 60 | 27 | 32 |
Exchange Savchenko for Russians who are in jail or imprisoned in Ukraine | 28 | 28 | 45 | 24 |
Grant a pardon to Savchenko | 2 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
Other | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
Don’t know | 20 | 7 | 13 | 42 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory. Full or partial reproduction of the Medialogia Company materials in other media must contain a reference to the Medialogia Company.